North Port Joins the Big League

SARASOTA, FLORIDA, November 22, 2017 – The city of North Port has joined the big league—this is the takeaway that local realtors brought home from their summit early this November. The October groundbreaking of the new spring training complex of the Atlanta Braves in the West Villages community district development in North Port certainly provided a platform in forging this idea that the city has leveled up with neighboring major search destinations for Sarasota homes for sale.

Expected to open in 2019, the Braves training complex has been previously estimated to bring a $1.7 billion economic impact to North Port during the next three years. In the North Port realtors’ summit this month, West Villages president Paul Erhard, affirmed the Braves’ stadium as a cornerstone to the community district development where as many as 25,000 new homes are expected to be built.

More Roofs on the Horizon

In 2016, West Villages emerged as the fourth-fastest selling residential developments, with 848 new homes sold. Moving forward, Erhard said sales is expected to rise to 1,000-plus homes per year.

Likewise anticipated is more diversity in the mix of prospective buyers of Sarasota homes for sale in the area. Erhard shared during the realtor’s summit that they see an increasing number of full-time residents in West Villages joining the snowbirds who’ve been coming in to roost in the district.

The growth of North Port, which is now home to nearly 68,000 residents, notably didn’t stop during the recession, said City Mayor Linda Yates in her welcome speech to the realtors’ summit. She credited North Port’s community spirit and persistence for the city’s uninterrupted gains.

More Cornerstones of Growth

Such perseverance could be seen from the other cornerstones upon which the West Villages’ development is founded. These growth platforms include a town center and three shopping centers one of which is set to break ground in mid-2018. This project, anchored on a Publix Supermarket, will rise on the corner of U.S. 41 and West Villages Parkway.

For prospective home buyers, it is significant to note that this location is just east of the residential communities Gran Paradiso and IslandWalk both offering a diverse selection of Sarasota homes for sale.

New Economic Blueprint

Hopes on the future growth for North Port are also pinned on the city’s comprehensive economic development plan which is being updated currently. The revisions, work on which was presented during an economic summit in early 2017, is focused on five initiatives that already brought over 1,700 new jobs and $270 million in new construction to the city.

Other economic drivers for North Port identified during this economic summit include the new Suncoast Technical College campus in the city off of Cranberry Boulevard near the Interstate 75 exit for Toledo Blade Boulevard. For real estate brokers, this campus is likewise noteworthy, as it is just a short distance west of Cedar Grove, a family-oriented Centex community with mid-priced Sarasota homes for sale.

Tourism, as to be expected, looms large in North Port’s future with the city opening the Atlanta Braves’ training stadium in 2019. Virginia Haley, president of Visit Sarasota County, told the recent realtors’ summit that the Braves’ facility is a major anchor to boost North Port’s tourist revenues. Nature-based city attractions, such as the Warm Mineral Springs, will also be tapped as they strive to rev up tourism growth in North Port, Haley added.

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